The Monte Xanic Estate
- Monte Xanic is heralded as the first boutique winery in Mexico, established in 1988. The story goes that this move, (and Monte Xanic's subsequent success) played a major role in starting a trend towards grape farmers making wine from their own grapes rather than raising grapes for sale.
- With a large quantity of land under vine in all the major wine growing valleys of the region, they are by far the most prolific of the boutique wineries in the region.
- Their vineyard sites are farmed sustainably, and their winery operates as a model of modern ecofriendly design.
- The estate weds advanced technology with old world wisdom, such as harvesting all their white grapes by hand at night in order to maintain maximum freshness and acidity.
- The "X" in Xanic is pronounced like a "sh", so Xanic sounds like "shan-eek". Xanic is the name of the white flower that is one of the first to bloom in spring in Valle de Guadalupe. When the spring rains are just right, the mountainside behind the winery is cloaked in their blooms.
Total production: 18 wines, 100,000 cases
2024 Viña Kristel - Monte Xanic
Tasting Notes and Drinking Window:
In 2024 Monte Xanic continued their shift towards low intervention winemaking with this wine by digging deeper into their approach of multiple harvests to get the diversity of flavors and aromas they are looking for without adding any corrections after pressing. The difference this is making in this winery is palpable as there is no comparison between the multidimensional complexity of phenols and acids one gets from the actual plant and anything one might add to a wine after harvest (the standard practice world-wide). Watching Monte Xanic embrace this approach over the past number of vintages has been a real pleasure, and it’s on to a new level in this 2024. The Kristel is always one of the gems of their lineup and this vintage carries on the legacy well.
12,000 cases made
Drinking window: Now – 5 yearsVintage:
2024
Blend:
100% Sauvignon Blanc
Producer:
Monte Xanic
Winemaker:
Oscar Gaona - Mexican, lives in Valle de Guadalupe
Vineyards:
Valle de Guadalupe - Estate vineyards planted in 2009 in soils of granite, lime, and clay. Vines are trained in two different stlyes, (double Guyot and double cordon) to achieve two effects for ripening .
Winemaking:
Harvest was carried out by hand from August 22nd through Sept 9th, with individual plots picked as they reached ideal ripness. Fermented in stainless steel tanks for 2 weeks then cold stabilized and aged for 6 months in stainless steel before bottling.
Sulfites 30 PPM
Farming:
Sustainable
Alcohol:
12.2%
